DC United @ Chivas USA Thurs 9/6/07 Post-Match Thread [R]

A Couple things:

1) Working from 2-10 Pacific Time really makes it hard to be a sports fan....not just for Soccer, but for all sports. This is the 2nd DC game in LA I have missed since starting the job. And the first DC/Chivas game in LA that I have missed. Furthermore, my Satalite being off means I get to see zero of the game. :-( Next year, MLS, plese have all DC vs LA teams on Saturday's....please.

2) I see that Stott was the man in the middle, I thought in the preview that I read Vaughn was supposed to ref, did the team in Yellow get a sub we didn't know about? Seriously though, I hope this was just a travel issue and nothing major if there was a switch(Stott lives in So Cal, so any time there needs to be a last minute switch in LA, he's it if availble.)

3) 2 points and knocked out of a tourny this year in 3 matches at HDC, and we looked like shit (at least from the talk in here) in all 3.

4) We are in sole posseison of first place! Vamos United! Now go out and beat the heck out of New England on Sunday.

 

I'm with ursula. 4 of 6 on the road is not bad. Doubling the number of goals scord on the baby goats in HDC is not bad. A lot more might have gone wrong, but it didn't.

United, IMHO, tends to come out of lackluster performances like mad hornets. With the Black-and-Red supporters out in force Sunday, I think NE is in for a long day. I could be wrong (and often am), but I think Reis is in for a game that will give him soak the sheets nightmares for a while.

And yes, ESPN sucks. I DVRed the game since I had to work, and it stopped in the 81st minute. Grrrrr...

 

Re: DC United @ Chivas USA Thurs 9/6/07 Post-Match Thread

Or more likely, since satellite time is usually bought in chunks of two hours, somebody failed to get the extension done when the kickoff was delayed, or someone on the other end didn't get the word to extend and pulled the plug at the end of the initial 10:30-12:30 block.

Feel free to dream up conspiracy theories, but I'll bet you my life savings that one of the above two scenarios is what really happened.

 

Okay. Well, I didn't see the game, but from where I'm sitting (currently in Munchen) a draw against a very tough Chivas side who has been rock solid at home is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a very good thing IMHO. From what I've read, we played a crappy second half and still held onto a point.

Sounds good to me. BTW, I just looked out the window and the sky is not falling.

Edited after watching highlights online. The sky is really not falling. Both Chivas goals were - how should I say it - lucky? Perkins gets the ultimate embarrasment (reminded me of when Petke headed the ball back towards what's-his-name and scored an own goal) by scoring off Razov's ass, and they get lucky on a deflection. Perkians also appeared to be having an excellent game and kept us in it on a couple of decent saves. We, OTOH, scored two excellent goals.

 

Your math is suspect. Both DC and CHIVAS earned a point, so they're still 6 points behind.

The only advantage we have is that they have to win their 2 games in hand to catch us, and even then we now have the tiebreaker.

This sets up an interesting scenario where I'll be rooting for the Red Bulls on Sunday when they travel to Chivaland. Actually a tie would work best, coz we also don't want Red Bulls catching up to us.

I'm also rooting for Toronto in Dallas and Salt Lake in Houston. Also hoping that the RSL-Houston game turns real physical so we get a tired opponent next Wednesday.

 

Instead of typing it again since Skip already did.............. ditto.

 

Re: DC United @ Chivas USA Thurs 9/6/07 Post-Match Thread

No. These things happen.

 

I am quoting your post because it is the last one in which Perkins is blamed for the goal.

While Perkins should definitely have some blame for the first goal, methinks 1) the experienced defender communicated very poorly with Perkins (so poorly in fact that Perkins at first thought the defender was going for the ball), 2) did not get in front of the pressuring forward, and 3) stood still, very calmly, while the ball trickled into the net (while Perkins after dashing to get to the ball and kick it, had to stop in his tracks despite his momemtum and charge back).

Is it any coincident that the last time DC United got robbed of 3 points when they were clearly ahead (i.e. by 3 goals) and in control of the game, was when the experienced defender was defending...

 

I mostly agree. But then he'd try to pass the ball. His passing was horrific.

 

Uh, what? Both teams got a point last night, Skip, not just us. Last night, the teams stood at 42 and 36; now they're at 43 and 37.

 

We pretty much stopped playing soccer after going up 2-0. Perkins with another goal that will be in the blooper collections on You Tube. Those cross field passes from Burch and Fred didn't find anyone very often. A bit disappointing to see Carroll come in for Moreno, but really, we don't have a lot of options at forward right now. In the end, it's a point on the road and I'll take it, albeit grumpily. And can we stop the knee-jerk whining about the referee? All 3 yellow cards were legit.

 

Re: DC United @ Chivas USA Thurs 9/6/07 Post-Match Thread

This is exactly what I was wondering at the time.

EDIT: Another entertaining fsck-up by ESPN last night: during halftime, on the lefthand side of the screen there was a bar showing the score of the game, with abbreviated team names and logos. But it didn't say DCU 2, CHI 1. It said CHI 2, DCU 1, and next to "CHI" was the logo of the Chicago Fire.

Not the first time they've done that, either. At this point I honestly believe that most of the truck work for MLS matches is done by their interns.

 

I guess we see what we want to see.

 

I just watched the MLSnet highlights (full game will have to wait). I'll I hope is that Perkins' confidence stays high, he seems to loose it after making a silly error.

But the important thing, we are now a point up on New England and can put some serious ground between us and them with a win on Sunday.

 

Frustrating to see our team play that poorly the majority of the game. I thought Soehn should have used all 3 subs and had them enter earlier in this run of games. Also would have liked to see an offensive sub.
For all those busting on Troy, he really saved our arses on a couple of occasions. Unlike Guzan he didn't cough up any rebounds. He was just unlucky on two occasions last night.
Boswell or Devon doesn't seem to make any difference. The opposing squads are getting chances. It comes down to who actually takes advantage of them.
Have to give credit to the baby goats also. While they were somewhat lucky on their goals, they played good swarming defense in the midfield and their backline played well after the first 25 minutes.
Again, like the first Dallas game, lessons should have been learned that we might need in the playoffs.
I'll take the point considering the last time in lalaland we couldn't beat one of the worst teams in MLS. We just tied one of the best on a bad night for us.

 

Boy that's true.

As for the Razov deflection, I agree you can't just lay that at the feet of Perkins. That's a communication screw up.

Overall, some of the prettiest play I've seen all year -- very impressive indeed. We should be pleased with the effort in the first half and happy our tired team got a result.

Our lack of a 3rd forward is hurting us now.

 

True enough. However I think you make your own luck to an extent. An attempted clearance, particularly in a tight situation like that, should be to the sideline. Not every kick has to launch an attack. Sure, it was a freak occurrence, but if the ball is booted sideways into the seats it doesn't go into the goal even if it hits somebody.

I will gladly take the point and run. Fatigue was a part of it, but I think we coasted a little bit too. Here's hoping we snap out of it and play well on Sunday.

 

Last night was proof that a 2 goal lead can be hard to defend. The problem with going up by 2 early is that Chivas had plenty of time to get the 2 back. One lucky bounce off of Ante's ass, and their spirits are lifted going into halftime that they can get one more back.


Two unlucky bounces results in two points lost. The best thing is that they can get on the field in a couple of days and work out their frustrations on New England.

 

Well, they say sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Last night, we were lucky.

Two good goals by Luciano early (thankfully) and then nothing for the next 50 minutes. Got to say that had I known the result would have been a draw, I'd have taken Moreno, Olsen, and Fred (he did nothing to impress me last night... must have been tired too), earlier.

Chivas' goals were flukes though. They should have at least a shot on goal for the off-sides call that shouldn't have been, but Perkins was in pretty good position to make a save, so you can't call it a sure thing.

I liked Gomez's shot from midfield. Too back it didn't drop a little more.

Anyway... not a bad road trip in the end.

I hope they get home and rest well today. I'd expect to see some fresh legs on the field on Sunday.

 

I don't know what all this talk of relying too much on Emilio is. If I recall, Ben Olsen, Christian Gomez, and Fred have been doing a pretty good job when Emilio's not scoring.

We just scored 2 goals on the road against a team with a very good defense. I'm happy and am not worrying about the goals... I mean come on. Have you seen our Goals For stat? 42!

Nothing to worry about... time to come home and add to the 25 we've scored at home.

 

The main reason I disagree with the folks saying "hey, we got the point, it's a good result, take it and run" is this:

I think Soehn understands that fatigue happens, and I think he knew that he would not be able to trot out the same starting lineup for Dallas, Chivas AND New England. So in which game to make the starting lineup changes -- away versus Chivas, or at home versus New England? A lot of people here figured he'd make big lineup changes last night, and play the regular starters against New England. But he stuck with the Dallas starting lineup for Chivas rather than make changes that many people guessed he'd make. I'm guessing he figured: 1) they'd played so well a few days before, and it's good to take advantage of their playing so well as a unit; 2) three points are three points, regardless of where they're earned; and 3) he can't change the whole lineup between Chivas and New England, so *some* people at least were definitely likely to be even more tired come the New England game, so best to go for the three points while as many players as possible are as fresh as possible.

We played for three points last night, and in so doing we diminished our chances of getting three points on Sunday. But we didn't get three points last night. We got just one, and now we have a home match where we'll be lucky to just get a point, because we can't start our best lineup and the players we do carry over will be exhausted. Like Chivas last night, New England will have had a ton of rest -- two weeks -- going into this game. Think they're not going to run at us as much as they can?

 

Good analysis. New England did have an Open Cup Semi this week though. I don't know what their lineup was but they won't necessarily be super fresh against DC.

 

The key to Sunday's game is how Jamie and Ben recover. And what the respective Plan B's (or is it Plans B) are.

Does Jamie start? Hoping that we can jump out to yet another early lead, and then pulling him either the half or shortly thereafter? Or does Jamie come on at halftime after Kpene or Dyachenko muster one or two shots?

How much does Ben have in the tank? Tommy's also got to look ahead to Wednesday's match.

 

It took 33 posts before someone mentioned it.

Ours was a tired team in the second half. That second goal is directly attributable to the lack of pressure from DC for several minutes leading up to it.

It was not a case where Chivas held possession through good futbol, it was that they were playing against orange traffic cones.

I hope they all get plenty of rest, fluids, and massages (oh, be-have) before Sunday.